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A  REPORT 


IN    REGARD  TO  THE 


MADE   BY.  A* 


COMMITTEE  OF  STUDENTS  FROM  OTHER 

COLLEGES  NOW  STUDYING 

AT  HARVARD. 


A  REPORT 


IN    REGARD   TO   THE 


MADE    BY   A 


COMMITTEE  OF  STUDENTS  FROM  OTHER 

COLLEGES  NOW  STUDYING 

AT  HARVARD. 


BOSTON 

PRESS   OF   GEO.    H.   ELLIS,    141    FRANKLIN   STREET 
1889 


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WE  present  in  this  pamphlet  the  report  of  a  committee 
of  students  who  have  recently  been  investigating  the 
tone  of  life  at  Harvard.  The  Committee  was  appointed  for 
this  purpose  last  February,  at  a  meeting  of  Harvard  students 
who,  before  coming  here,  have  studied  at  other  colleges. 
Knowing  that  in  many  sections  it  is  commonly  supposed  that 
Harvard  does  but  little  earnest  work,  and  has  no  very  high 
standard  of  morality,  these  men  had  determined  to  make  in- 
quiries as  to  whether  such  a  view  would  be  considered  justifia- 
ble by  students  who,  having  attended  colleges  elsewhere,  know 
how  the  Harvard  spirit  compares  with  that  of  other  places. 
The  seventy-five  men  represented  in  this  movement  are  inti- 
mately acquainted  with  the  daily  life  and  the  general  spirit 
both  of  Harvard  and  of  institutions  previously  attended.  They 
can  therefore  judge  how  these  compare  with  one  another  much 
better  than  can  those  who  have  spread  the  adverse  criticisms, 
or  those  who  gain  their  ideas  of  Harvard  from  them.  With 
the  hope  that  their  opinions  may  be  of  some  influence  in  this 
matter,  they  have  decided  to  publish  the  report  of  their  Com- 
mittee, together  with  extracts  from  the  letters  which  were  re- 
ceived. For  the  means  to  accomplish  this  purpose,  they  are 
indebted  to  the  generosity  of  a  number  of  Harvard  graduates 
who  have  kindly  interested  themselves  in  the  plan. 

The  Committee  has  endeavored  to  make  selections  with 
entire  fairness,  and  has  excluded  nothing  because  its  attitude 
was  unfavorable.  The  extracts  given  in  this  pamphlet  com- 
prise practically  all  the  material  received,  excepting  only  such 
as  has  little  pertinence,  or  is  mere  repetition  of  statements 
already  included.  The  report  itself  summarizes  the  results 
obtained,  giving  various  statistics  in  regard  to  the  answers 
received,  and  showing  what  proportion  of  them  were  favorable 
and  how  many  were  otherwise. 

Since,  then,  these  statements  are  made  by  students  who  are 
as  loyal  to  their  previous  colleges  as  they  are  to  Harvard,  and 
who  therefore  express  their  true  opinions  impartially,  and  since 


889452 


these  opinions  are  all  included  here,  without  regard  to  their 
attitude,  .  whether  of.  corjirhejidation  or  criticism,  we  therefore 
hope  that  ithey  will"  fee1  of  ••some  weight  in  correcting  public 


opinion^  sot  faivd&  i^  lfc£y  be-*«ynjcist  in  regard  to  the  conditions 
of  student  $iite**at"Hafvard." 

EDMUND  BURKE  DELABARRE,   Chairman, 
WILLIAM  HERBERT  CARRUTH, 
CHARLES  WILLIAM  COLBY, 

Committee  on  Publication. 


REPORT  OF  THE  COMMITTEE. 


GENTLEMEN  :  — 

Your  Committee  has  finished  the  work  assigned  it,  and  begs 
to  submit  the  following  report :  — 

We  first  prepared  and  sent  out  the  following  circular :  — 

Dear  Sir, — With  a  view  to  extending  knowledge  of  the  advantages 
of  Harvard  and  of  correcting  any  false  impressions  prevalent  con- 
cerning it,  a  committee  of  ten,  appointed  for  this  purpose  at  a  general 
meeting  of  students  who  have  come  to  Harvard  from  other  colleges, 
has  prepared  the  following  questions,  to  which  it  solicits  answers  :  — 

1.  Name  and  age. 

2.  College  or  colleges  previously  attended,  and  time  passed  there. 
How  long  have  you  been  at  Harvard  ? 

3.  What  special  advantages  induced  you  to  come  to  Harvard  ? 

4.  Have  your  expectations  been  fulfilled  ? 

5.  What  advantages  have  you  found  that  you  did  not  expect? 

6.  What  disadvantages  and  dangerous  influences,  if  any,  did  you 
or  your  friends  anticipate  ? 

7.  Do  you  find  such  apprehensions  warranted  by  the  facts  ? 

8.  What  do  you  think  of  the  moral  tone  of  Harvard  ?     How  does 
it  compare  with  other  institutions  with  which  you  are  familiar  ? 

9.  What   is   your   opinion  of   the   intellectual   earnestness  of   the 
students  ?     How  do  you  think  it  is  affected  by  the  elective  system  ? 

10.  Can  you  suggest  any  changes  which  would  improve  the  Uni- 
versity or  its  administrative  methods,  and  thereby  attract  larger  num- 
bers of  graduates  of  other  colleges  ? 

In  case  your  answer  is  used  for  publication,  your  name  and  that 
of  your  college  will  be  regarded  as  strictly  confidential.  The  Com- 
mittee trusts  that  you  will  give  careful  consideration  to  these  ques- 
tions, and  send  a  prompt  reply  to 

THE  SECRETARY  OF  THE  COMMITTEE. 


This  was  sent  first  to  such  members  of  the  graduate  and 
undergraduate  departments  as  had  previously  attended  some 
other  college.  A  little  later,  copies  were  sent  to  members  of 
the  Law  and  Divinity  Schools,  but  so  few  answers  have  been 
received  from  them  that  they  are  not  included  in  this  report.* 

As  nearly  as  can  be  determined,  there  are  in  the  graduate 
and  undergraduate  departments  97  men  who  were  members  of 
some  other  college  previously  to  coming  to  Harvard.  Of  these, 
75,  or  77.3  per  cent.,  have  given  the  statistics  asked  for  by  the 
Committee ;  and  from  these  we  compile  our  report. 

From  the  answers  to  Questions  I  and  2,  we  have  prepared 
the  following  statistics  :  — 

Number  of  answers  received, 75 

From  graduates, 29 

From  undergraduates,    * 46 

Average  age, 23.5 

Of  graduates  alone, 26 

Of  undergraduates  alone, 21.8 

Number  of  colleges  and  universities  represented,! 64 

Of  19  States  of  the  Union, 56 

Of  Canada, 3 

Of  England, i 

Of  Germany, 2 

Of  Japan, 2 

Total  number  of  years  passed  elsewhere, about  280 

Average  "        "       "         "  "  3.75 

Total        "        "       "         "        at  Harvard, about  120 

Average  "        "       "         "  "         1.6 

*Some  half-dozen  extracts  from  their  letters,  however,  have  been  given,  on 
account  of  their  pertinence. 

t  Namely :  —  Adelbert,  Amherst,  Antioch,  Boston  University,  Bowdoin, 
Brown  University,  Brooklyn  Polytechnic,  Bucknell,  University  of  California,  Cen- 
tre (Ky.),  Central  Wesleyan,  Colby,  Columbia,  Cornell,  Dartmouth,  Denison, 
Drury,  Eureka,  Furman  University,  Georgetown,  Greenville  Military,  Haverford, 
Hobart,  Illinois  Agricultural,  Illinois  State  Normal,  Illinois  University,  Johns 
Hopkins,  Kansas  State  University,  Kenyon,  Lehigh,  Michigan  University,  Minne- 
sota, Nashville,  New  York  City  College  and  University,  North  Carolina  Univer- 
sity, Oberlin,  Ohio  State  University,  University  of  Pennsylvania,  Princeton,  Rich- 
mond, Rochester,  St.  Lawrence,  South  Carolina,  Swarthmore,  Syracuse,  Tufts, 
Wake  Forest,  Washington,  Wesleyan,  Williams,  Worcester  Polytechnic,  Union 
Christian,  University  of  Virginia;  McGill,  New  Brunswick,  Toronto;  Oxford; 
Berlin,  Frankfurt. 


The  answers  to  Questions  3,  4,  and  5  give  a  detailed  list 
of  the  advantages  which  Harvard  presents,  and  show  that  they 
are  well  appreciated.  Among  those  mentioned  are  :  General 
Reputation  ;  Superiority  of  Instructors  ;  Wide  Range  of  Courses 
of  Instruction ;  Methods  of  Instruction,  including  the  elective 
system ;  various  facilities  for  work,  as  Library,  Laboratories, 
and  Museums,  Gymnasium,  etc. ;  other  aids,  such  as  the  Depart- 
ment Clubs,  Lectures,  and  Conferences,  and  vicinity  of  Boston  ; 
the  cordial  relations  between  instructors  and  students ;  various 
religious  advantages  ;  Financial  Aids  ;  and  many  others.  Many 
dwell  upon  the  fact  that  Harvard  affords  better  advantages  for 
both  graduates  and  undergraduates  than  any  other  college  or 
university  in  the  country.  To  some  this  has  seemed  so  palpable 
a  truth  that  they  have  thought  it  universally  acknowledged, 
but  the  experience  of  many  others  has  been  that  a  state  of 
deep  ignorance  prevails  in  regard  to  this  important  fact. 

Questions  6  and  7  speak  of  the  disadvantages  anticipated. 
Among  these  were :  Immoral  and  Irreligious  Influences ;  lax 
and  superficial  spirit  of  work ;  Extravagance,  expense  of  living 
here,  Snobbery,  etc.  Most  of  these  fears  have  been  found  by 
those  who  mention  them  to  have  been  without  foundation. 
Immorality  and  idleness  are  discussed  more  fully  under  the 
next  two  questions. 

As  to  the  moral  tone  of  Harvard,  there  is  a  very  decided  ex- 
pression of  opinion  that  the  accusations  against  her  are  greatly 
exaggerated  or  unfounded.  Only  3  of  the  answers  received 
express  strong  disapproval  of  Harvard's  moral  tendency;  3 
others  think  it  no  better  in  morality  than  other  institutions 
which  they  have  attended ;  10  more,  while  they  believe  the 
tone  and  tendency  here  to  be  good,  yet  think  that  in  their  own 
previous  college  it  was  somewhat  better ;  6  feel  themselves  in- 
competent to  judge;  and  53,  or  70  per  cent,  of  all,  are  convinced 
that  it  is  as  high  as  in  any  other  institution  which  they  have 
previously  known,  or  even  higher.  Thus  84  per  cent,  express 
the  conviction  that  the  moral  atmosphere  of  Harvard  is  good, 
as  against  only  4  per  cent,  who  speak  of  having  found  it 
decidedly  otherwise. 

As  to  the  general  spirit  of  earnestness  in  work,  there  seems 
little  doubt.  Only  2  think  it  low,  and  better  in  smaller  col- 
leges; 2  that  in  the  lower  classes  it  is  better  elsewhere;  4 


8 

-think  themselves  unable  to  judge  ;  the  other  67,  or  90  per 
cent.,  vary  in  their  expressions  of  commendation  from  "  good  " 
to  "  never  have  seen  a  more  thoroughly  earnest  spirit." 

Question  10  was  inserted  at  the  request  of  the  President,  and 
the  answers  to  it  have  been  submitted  to  him. 

We  have  collected  numerous  extracts  from  the  most  signifi- 
cant of  the  letters.  As  to  the  disposal  to  be  made  of  these,  we 
await  your  pleasure.  We  recommend  the  publication  of  a  pam- 
phlet to  contain  the  report  of  your  Committee,  the  extracts  from 
the  letters,  and  an  introduction  stating  the  object  and  general 
result  of  our  investigations. 

We  also  recommend,  in  accordance  with  suggestions  made 
in  many  of  the  letters,  a  permanent  organization  of  men  from 
other  colleges,  and  the  appointment  by  them  annually  of  a  com- 
mittee whose  duties  shall  be,  at  the  opening  of  each  college 
year,  to  welcome,  advise,  and  help  students  coming  here  from 
other  colleges,  either  as  graduates  or  as  undergraduates ;  and 
also  to  call  such  occasional  meetings  of  the  organization,  for 
business  or  social  purposes,  as  shall  be  deemed  wise. 


COMMITTEE. 

W.   H.  CARRUTH,  Chairman.  W.   C.    KITCHIN. 

E.  B.  DELABARRE,  Secretary.  A.  A.  MORRIS. 

J.  B.  CHITTENDEN.  J.  P.  NIELDS. 

C.  W.  COLBY.  W.  H.  SIEBERT. 

E.  B.  DAHLGREN.  F.  B.  VROOMAN. 


EXTRACTS  FROM  STUDENTS'  LETTERS. 


QUESTION   3. 
What  special  advantages  induced  you  to  come  to  Harvard  ? 

A.     REPUTATION  AND  GENERAL*  SUPERIORITY. 

"  I  came  to  Harvard  because  I  believed  it  offered  a  broader  field 
for  education  than  any  other  college  in  this  country." 

"The  general  reputation  of  Harvard  as  a  broad  university,  and 
the  name  it  has  of  being  the  leading  college  of  America." 

"  The  advantages  of  the  oldest  and  most  progressive  institution  in 
the  country.  The  advantages  of  coming  in  contact  with  a  people 
who  have  always  given  more  attention  to  education  and  cultivation 
of  the  mind  than  those  of  any  other  section  of  our  country." 

"  The  conclusion  that  Harvard  is  the  most  broadly  representative 
of  American  educational  science  and  scholarship.  The  impression 
that  Harvard,  of  all  American  institutions,  is  most  expressly  moved 
by  the  spirit  of  a  universal  learning  and  development,  as  distinguished 
from  the  intent  and  temper  of  sectarian  colleges." 

B.     SUPERIORITY  OF  INSTRUCTORS. 

"  I  did  not  expect  to  find  the  younger  instructors  as  able  as  I  have 
found  some  of  them." 

"A  reference  to  the  list  of  works  published  by  instructors  and 
officers  of  Harvard  —  standard  text-books,  literature,  monographs, 
papers,  etc. —  cannot  fail  to  give  an  idea  of  the  overwhelming  superi- 
ority and  activity  of  Harvard  professors." 

C.     WIDE  RANGE  OF  COURSES  OF  INSTRUCTION. 

a.  In  General:  "A  broader  field  for  education  than  any  other  col- 
lege in  this  country." 

"  More  professors  in  each  specialty  and  a  larger  variety  of  courses 
than  elsewhere." 

Men  in  the  most  varied  courses  write :  "  No  other  place  offers  so 
many  courses  and  such  superior  instruction  in  my  line  as  does 


IO 

Harvard " ;  e.g.,  "  The  advantages  in  mathematics,  the  precise,  thor- 
ough, and  extensive  instruction  in  that  department,  especially  the  rigor 
with  which  it  is  prosecuted,  inspired  in  me  a  confidence  which  I 
could  not  feel  in  any  other  institution." 

"jAll  departments  are  well  equipped  and  work  very  thoroughly 
done." 

b.  Graduate:  "The  graduate  work  is  perhaps  higher  in  character 
than  I  expected  to  find  it.  It  is  that  of  a  university,  in  the  highest 
sense  of  the  term." 

"The  seeming  efforts  to  recognize  the  graduate  department  in 
planning  for  the  college  courses,  while  at  the,  same  time  extending 
the  attention  given  to  undergraduates  in  their  work  to  graduates  as 
well." 

"  For  my  work,  no  university  in  this  country  or  abroad  offers  me 
such  fine  opportunities  as  I  find  here.  From  the  circular  sent  me 
describing  the  graduate  department,  I  had  no  idea  that  almost  a 
hundred  earnest  men  were  enjoying  the  courses  offered,  and  were 
enthusiastic  over  the  facilities  for  their  work  and  the  superiority  of 
instruction.  It  was  only  by  a  fortunate  accident  and  with  many  mis- 
givings that  I  came  here.  I  now  believe  that  Harvard  offers  better 
advantages  for  graduate  work  than  any  other  American  university." 

D.     METHODS  OF  INSTRUCTION. 

a.  The   Elective    System :     "  I    believed   that   the   elective   system 
would  allow   the   most  untrammelled   pursuit   of  the  studies   which 
would   be   most   advantageous." 

"  It  allowed  me  to  omit  certain  subjects  with  which  I  was  not  at  all 
conversant  and  devote  myself  to  the  branches  of  interest  to  myself." 

"  It  permits  the  student  to  pursue  lines  of  study  for  which  his 
natural  endowments  best  fit  him,  in  which  he  can  engage  with  the 
greatest  zeal,  and  from  which  derive  the  greatest  improvement." 

"  I  have  found  a  sort  of  inspiration  in  the  personal  liberty  system. 
It  makes  one  feel  that  the  work  he  does  is  his  own  work  rather  than 
that  of  a  professor  who  tries  to  force  it  upon  him.  This  feeling  is  a 
constant  stimulus." 

"  It  vastly  improves  scholarship,  fosters  independent  opinion  and 
research." 

b.  The  Methods  of  Original  Research  in  Vogue  here :  "  The  system  of 
writing  theses  in  the  various  departments  gives  both  command  of  the 
subject  in  hand  and  command  of  English  such  as  can  never  be  ac- 
quired by  the  ordinary  recitation  system." 

"  I  have  found  a  method  of  individual  investigation  by  the  members 
of  the  various  courses  which  I  did  not  expect.  It  seems  to  be  the 


II 

policy  of  the  instructors  to  make  their  students  work  up  the  subjects 
individually  by  directing  them  in  work  outside  the  text-books,  and 
not  to  subject  them  to  a  parrot-like  cramming  of  details." 

E.     FACILITIES  FOR  WORK. 

a.  Library:  "A  university  library  of  about  350,000  volumes ;  and 
free  and  easy  access,  with  privilege  of  taking  out  books,  to  the  Boston 
Public  Library,  Boston  Athenaeum,  Massachusetts  State,  Massachu- 
setts Historical  Society,  and  others.     This  places  more  than  a  million 
volumes  within  easy  reach  of  the  student,  which  is  more  than  three 
times  as  many  as  are  accessible  to  the  student  in  any  other  centre  of 
the  country." 

"The  remarkable  liberality  with  which  the  library  is  administered, 

—  a  liberality  which  is  not  satisfied  with  *  housing '  the  latest  contribu- 
tions to  knowledge,  but  by  means  of  the  '  alcove  '  and  '  reserved  book ' 
system  seeks  to  make  collateral  reading  easy.     How  great  the  con- 
trast  between  our  crowded  library  and  the    sleepy  quiet   of  's 

half-deserted   library,  into  which   occasionally   students   go  silently, 
order  a  book,  and  softly  steal  away  !  " 

"  Free  access  to  the  valuable  and  strikingly  complete  collections  of 
literature  and  specimens  in  my  department, —  a  privilege  very  difficult 
to  enjoy  in  most  European  universities." 

"Extent  and  completeness  in  the  important  branch  of  scientific 
periodicals." 

b.  Laboratories  and  Museums  :    "  The   magnificent   chemical    and 
physical  laboratories,  the  astronomical  observatory,  the  museums  of 
zoology  and  natural  history,  of  archaeology  and  ethnology,  the  botan- 
ical collections,  etc.,  offer  unusually  great  facilities  for   special   re- 
search." 

c.  "  A  gymnasium  magnificently  equipped,  giving  unequalled  facili- 
ties for  physical  development." 

F.     OTHER  IMPORTANT  AIDS. 

a.  The  Clubs:  "The  existence  of  'department  clubs,' — such  as 
the  Historical,  the  Philosophical,  the  Chemical,  the  Electricity,  the 
Finance,  the  Classical  Clubs,  the  French  and  German  Societies,  etc., 

—  with    their   membership   comprising   upper    class   men,   graduate 
students,  and  professors  of  these  various  departments ;  the  object  of 
these  organizations  being  primarily  the  discussion  by  each  of  topics 
especially   interesting   to  itself,    secondarily  the   establishment  of   a 
closer   relation   between   professors    and   students    and   among    the 
students  themselves." 


12 

"  The  multifarious  societies  are  surprisingly  conducive  to  breadth." 

b.  Lectures  and  Conferences :  "  The  giving  of  a  series  of  lectures  by 
members  of  the  faculty  and  by  distinguished  men  from  a  distance, 
bearing  on  the  students'  work  in  the  various  departments." 

"  The  valuable  addresses  and  discussions  at  the  college  conference 
meetings." 

"  A  series  of  orchestral  concerts  in  Sanders  Theatre." 

c.  "  The  vicinity   of   Boston   and   its    opportunities,    musical    and 
theatrical." 

G.     RELIGIOUS  ADVANTAGES. 

"  The  opportunities  of  hearing  in  the  university  chapel  some  of  the 
distinguished  preachers  of  the  country." 

"  The  pleasant  Thursday  afternoon  Vesper  Services.  The  advan- 
tage of  seats  at  the  expense  of  the  college  in  the  churches  of  the 
different  denominations  in  Cambridge." 

"The  unique  and  valuable  privilege  of  easily  consulting  the 
preacher  conducting  morning  prayers,  who  is  each  morning  at  Wads- 
worth  House  for  this  purpose." 

"  The  voluntary  system  of  attendance  at  chapel  services,  which  is 
conducive  to  a  truer  and  healthier  morality  and  religious  interest." 

H.     RELATIONS  BETWEEN  INSTRUCTORS  AND  STUDENTS. 

"  The  relations  between  faculty  and  students  have  been  closer  and 
more  satisfactory  than  I  had  hoped  for." 

"  I  have  found  a  prompt,  broad,  and  generous  readiness  of  the 
controlling  authority  of  the  college  to  perceive  and  advance  the  pur- 
poses of  earnest  candidates  of  special  work  and  an  encouraging 
openness  and  interest  shown  by  such  professors  as  I  have  had  con- 
nection with." 

"I  had  no  idea  of  the  interest  taken  in  each  student  personally." 

"  I  cannot  say  too  much  of  the  helpfulness  and  willingness  to  help 
of  the  men  with  whom  I  have  come  in  contact." 

"  I  find  in  all  my  courses  that  the  professors  take  a  much  greater 
personal  interest  in  one's  work  than  I  expected.  This  I  consider  a 
point  of  great  importance." 

"  The  students  are  treated  as  gentlemen  desiring  knowledge,  and 
not  as  school-boys  desiring  to  learn  as  little  as  they  have  to." 

I.     FINANCIAL. 

(On  this  subject,  consult  Professor  Palmer's  pamphlet,  "  College 
Expenses  at  Harvard.") 

"The  pecuniary  advantages  are  very  great." 


13 

"  It  is  possible  to  spend  any  amount  at  Harvard ;  but  a  student 
need  not,  I  have  learned,  go  to  another  college  because  he  fears  the 
expenses  at  Harvard.  The  opportunities  for  scholarships  and  other 
means  of  assistance,  so  near  at  every  hand,  make  it  quite  possible 
for  a  student  to  go  through  Harvard  for  one-half  or,  at  most,  two- 
thirds  of  what  it  would  cost  him  at  one  of  the  small  colleges.  My 
actual  expenses  here  (without  deductions  for  scholarships)  have  been 
less  than  my  actual  expenses  at  a  smaller  college." 

"  After  careful  comparison,  I  concluded  I  could  live  in  Cambridge 
as  economically  as  elsewhere." 

"  Memorial  Hall,  with  excellent  table  board  at  $4  a  week  (of 
which  seven  hundred  students  avail  themselves),  and  the  newly  es- 
tablished University  Club,  which  proposes  to  offer  board  at  $3,  with 
rooms  for  study,  a  reference  library,  etc.,  make  it  possible  for  a  stu- 
dent to  live  economically  and  well." 

K.     THE  "BACKING"  OF  HARVARD. 

"  I  believe  that  the  backing  of  Harvard  —  because  of  her  age,  the 
wide  distribution  of  her  graduates,  and  her  reputation  for  scholar- 
ship —  is  worth  more  in  America  than  that  of  any  other  institution 
in  the  world." 

"  I  believe  a  good  Harvard  diploma  is  worth  more  than  that  of  any 
other  college." 

L.     MISCELLANEOUS. 

"The  inspiring  association  with  many  earnest  and  ambitious  men 
in  my  own  and  other  lines." 

"  The  privilege  of  association  with  a  class  of  students  whose  aims 
are  not  bounded  by  dollars  and  cents." 

"  Competition  with  a  large  body  of  students." 

"  I  have  found  a  spirit  of  '  comradeship '  which  it  has  taken  months 
elsewhere  to  discover." 

"  I  have  been  in  no  way  annoyed  by  class  or  caste  distinctions, 
intellectual  or  pecuniary." 

"  The  advantage  of  studying  human  nature  ;  also,  of  testing  and 
making  firmer  one's  own  moral  discipline  or  character." 

"  Traditions  of  the  place." 

"  The  keen  intellectual  life  of  a  large  proportion  of  the  men." 

"  High  stand  in  athletics." 

"  I  anticipated  a  new  phase  of  life,  when  I  would  for  the  first  time 
be  thrown  entirely  on  my  own  resources,  when  temptations  would  be 
put  before  me  and  I  should  have  to  decide  whether  I  had  will  power 
to  resist  them,  when  I  should,  in  fact,  be  called  upon  to  show  my 


character  to  myself  not  less  than  to  those  around  me.  I  anticipated 
meeting  men  whom  I  wished  for  life-long  friends,  and  whose  compan- 
ionship would  be  of  the  greatest  possible  pleasure  and  advantage  to 
me.  These  expectations  have  most  certainly  been  entirely  fulfilled." 

Most  of  the  answers  to  Questions  4  and  5  have  been  incorporated 
with  the  preceding.  A  few  only  are  now  given  separately,  in  order 
to  show  the  general  spirit  of  most  of  them. 


QUESTION    4. 
Have  your  expectations  been  fulfilled  ? 

"  More  than  fulfilled." 

"  I  never  knew  the  rare  opportunities  a  man  may  enjoy  here  until 
I  had  been  here  several  months.  My  expectations  were  more  than 
realized.  I  cannot  afford  to  go  elsewhere." 

"  I  find  that,  instead  of  overestimating,  I  had  underestimated  the 
advantages  which  Harvard  offers." 


QUESTION    5. 

What  advantages  have  you  found  that  you  did  not 

expect? 

"  I  have  found  pervading  all  the  departments  with  which  I  have 
been  associated  a  spirit  of  earnestness  in  work,  which  was  directly  in 
contrast  with  what  I  had  been  told  to  expect."  (On  this  matter,  see 
answers  to  Question  9,  p.  26.) 

"  I  did  not  expect  to  find  morality  and  unostentatious  piety  re- 
garded with  the  favor  that  they  are."  (See  answers  to  Question 
8,  p.  19.) 

"  I  was  led  to  expect  no  religious  advantages  here.  I  have  found 
that  this  was  a  mistake.  I  had  no  adequate  idea  of  the  extent  of  the 
courses  of  instruction  in  the  university,  of  the  library  privileges,  of 
the  advantages  of  proximity  to  Boston,  etc.  In  all  these,  I  have 
found  my  expectations  exceeded." 


15 
QUESTIONS  6  and  7. 

6.  What  disadvantages  and  dangerous  influences,  if  any, 
did  you  or  your  friends  anticipate  ? 

7.  Do  you  find  such  apprehensions  warranted  by  the  facts? 

A.     IN  GENERAL. 

"  Such  temptations  as  arise  from  intimate  association  with  a  large 
body  of  wealthy  young  men.  (7)  Yes  ;  but  these  temptations  are 
easily  resisted.  They  are  not  nearly  so  strong  as  generally  painted." 

"  I  presume  there  are  many  dangerous  influences  here,  as  at  any 
large  institution,  especially  near  a  city  like  Boston.  But  the  devil, 
I  believe,  is  not  confined  to  any  one  locality." 

"  They  anticipated  almost  everything  that  was  evil ;  for  the  name 
'  Harvard  '  carried  with  it  the  idea  of  extravagance,  easy  life,  and 
many  temptations.  (7)  To  a  certain  extent.  But  in  any  place  a 
man  must  make  himself." 

"  Some  friends  told  me  that  I  should  lose,  individuality  and  ambi- 
tion. If  this  has  been  the  case,  the  cause  is,  not  a  lack  of  ambition 
among  the  students,  but  the  great  number  of  brilliant  men  as  well  as 
hard  workers.  Others  were  afraid  that  I  should  become  exclusively 
interested  in  the  work  of  the  curriculum,  another  that  I  should  forget 
studying  in  athletics,  another  that  I  should  *  live  in  a  dress-suit.' 
These  apprehensions  were  unwarranted." 

"Contact  with  and  evil  influence  of  immoral  and  extravagant 
young  men,  too  numerous  to  be  avoided,  and  too  influential  to  be 
resisted.  (7)  No." 

"  I  was  not  personally  warned  against  any  dangerous  influence,  but 
I  had  somehow  been  led  to  regard  the  moral  and  intellectual  tone  of 
Harvard  as  below  that  of  the  average  American  college.  (7)  No." 

B.     SCEPTICISM,  IMMORALITY,  IRRELIGION. 
(See  also  answers  to  Question  8,  p.  19.) 

"  I  was  led  to  expect  no  religious  advantages  here.  I  have  found 
that  this  was  a  mistake.  I  was  led  to  fear  that  Harvard  was  a  place 
where  religion  was  derided,  where  professors  took  especial  pains  to 
sneer  at  piety.  It  seemed  to  be  believed  outside  that  Harvard  was 
a  kind  of  entrance  to  Hades.  When  I  had  been  here  some  time, 
and  found  that  these  beliefs  were  false,  I  experienced  much  indigna- 
tion against  those  who  were  responsible  for  perpetuating  them ;  and 
I  have  only  been  able  to  account  for  their  conduct  on  the  ground  of 
their  jealousy  and  envy  at  the  prosperity  and  pre-eminence  of  Har- 
vard, and  the  very  necessity,  for  their  own  self-preservation  and  the 


i6 

perpetuity  of  their  own  schools,  of  resorting  to  such  means  to  frighten 
the  youth  of  the  land  from  coming  here." 

"My  friends  warned  me  of  the  unhealthy  moral  atmosphere  of 
Harvard.  They  believed  that  the  place  abounded  in  scepticism  and 
immorality,  and  that  the  utmost  frivolity  prevailed  here.  They 
thought  that  there  was  little  earnestness  in  study  here.  (7)  The 
above  apprehensions  are  not  warranted  by  the  facts.  I  cannot 
conceive  how  such  radically  false  impressions  could  have  gotten 
abroad  about  Harvard,  unless  its  very  superiority  invited  attack 
from  the  friends  of  invidious  institutions." 

"  In  regard  to  the  influence  exerted,  I  regarded  it  as  being  exceed- 
ingly dangerous,  tending  to  irreligion  and  atheism  under  the  appear- 
ance of  liberalism, —  outwardly  seeming  to  embrace  all  creeds,  but  in 
reality  holding  to  none ;  in  fact,  a  mixture  of  materialism  and  dis- 
torted rationalism.  This  was  my  idea  in  regard  to  the  influences 
brought  to  bear  on  the  student,  and  I  am  glad  to  say  that  it  is 
not  warranted  by  the  facts  as  I  find  them.  The  moral  tone  of  the 
college  is  very  good,  and  indeed  to  me  surprisingly  so,  when  regard- 
ing the  amount  of  liberty  and  freedom  of  action  permitted  to  the 
young  man,  thrown  as  he  is  almost  entirely  on  his  own  resources. 
This^was  a  great  shock  to  my  former  opinions,  holding  as  I  did  that 
a  far  greater  dependence  on  others  was  necessary  for  the  proper  edu- 
cation of  the  young  man." 

"  Irreligious  and  immoral  atmosphere.     (7)  No." 

"  The  especial  danger  apprehended  by  my  parents  and  family  was 
the  tendency  to  '  liberal  thought,'  so  prominent  at  Harvard.  They 
also  deplored  the  lack  of  moral  restraint  supposed  to  exist  in  other 
ways.  (7)  I  do  not  find  the  apprehensions  warranted  by  the  facts. 
A  man  may  become  infidel  or  not :  all  depends  upon  himself.  As  for 
the  supervision  of  the  students  in  other  ways,  I  consider  it  is  as 
rigorous  as  is  consistent  with  right." 

"  Irreligion,  fast  life,  and  little  study.     (7)  Proportionally,  No  !  " 

"  My  friends  told  me  that  in  moral  matters  there  was  an  ultra-liber- 
alism which  tended  to  deify  intellectual  culture  and  a  lazy  indiffer- 
ence toward  all  moral  effort.  (7)  I  have  s.een  nothing  *  immoral '  in 
tone,  tendency,  or  custom." 

"Mainly  (a)  that  graduates  and  undergraduates  were  jumbled  in 
together  in  the  classes  to  the  injury  of  the  former,  and  (£)  that  what- 
ever of  a  religious  spirit  pervades  Harvard  is  anti-evangelical  in  its 
nature,  and  (t)  that  the  prevailing  tone  of  the  college  is  irreligious. 

"(7)  I  think  there  is  enough  foundation  in  fact  to  justify  the  exist- 
ence of  such  conceptions  of  Harvard,  but  that  the  rumors  afloat 
through  the  country  are  greatly  exaggerated." 


"  Moral  corruption  and  extravagance  among  a  limited  class.  (7) 
On  the  whole,  Yes." 

"  Friends  anticipated  irreligious  influences.     (7)  Yes." 

C.     LAX  AND  SUPERFICIAL  SPIRIT  OF  WORK. 

(See  also  answers  to  Question  9,  p.  26.) 

"I  believed  that  the  administration  of  Harvard  was  culpably  lax, 
and  fully  expected  to  find  here  that  a  large  number  of  the  students 
were  rich,  dissipated  youths  who  attended  lectures  with  large  license 
to  '  cut,'  and  were  annually  '  coached  '  over  forty  per  cent,  barriers  of 
a  fragile  character.  I  had  never  heard  of  a  religious  'set'  at  Har- 
vard, nor  that  the  '  professors  '  were  not  mildly  anti-religious.  We  all 
know  how  expensive  Harvard  is  popularly  understood  to  be  ;  and,  in 
setting  about  to  earn  my  expenses  by  waiting  upon  table,  I  fully  ex- 
pected that  snobbishness  was  rampant,  and  that  I  should  be  *  cut '  by 
the  students.  But  we  have  all  heard  the  same  story  about  the  Har- 
vard 'dude,'  'tough,'  and  'gladiator.'  Among  such  Harvard  men  as 
I  have  met,  I  have  looked  in  vain  for  such  types ;  and  I  am  led  to  be- 
lieve that  they  exist,  if  at  all,  only  in  small  numbers,  and  certainly  do 
not  dictate  Harvard  student  sentiment." 

"  My  friends  and  I  believed  (a)  that  a  lax  and  superficial  spirit  of 
work  prevailed  at  Harvard,  that  the  Harvard  A.B.  usually  signified  a 
much  more  superficial  education  than  that  of  most  colleges ;  (£)  that 
the  morals  among  the  students  as  a  body  were  lax,  and  especially 
that  religious  ideas  would  find  little  favor.  (7)  In  the  case  of  the 
first  of  these  apprehensions,  I  have  found  that  we  were  completely 
deceived.  So  far  as  my  acquaintance  goes,  the  spirit  of  work  is  all 
that  can  be  desired.  In  the  case  of  the  second  of  these  apprehen- 
sions, I  have  found  that  they  were  not  warranted  by  the  facts,  although 
I  have  not  been  so  struck  with  their  want  of  foundation  as  I  have 
been  in  the  case  of  the  first.  Religious  ideas  will  find  as  much  favor 
here  as  elsewhere." 

"  The  impression  that  there  is  here  a  lack  of  intellectual  earnest- 
ness is  pretty  generally  present  in  the  West.  Says  a  Western  gentle- 
man, 'Many  scholarly  men  are  of  the  opinion  that,  while  the  standard 
of  admission  at  Harvard  is  high,  some  say  too  high,  it  is  not  high  for 
the  college  classes.  "  It  is  hard  to  get  in,"  they  say,  "  easy  to  stay  in."  ' 
There  is  a  belief,  hard  to  argue  down,  that  a  great  many  men  at 
Harvard  spend  a  large  amount  of  money  and  do  a  very  small 
amount  of  work.  If  Harvard  is  to  take  the  position  she  should  take, 
in  the  opinion  of  a  large  portion  of  the  sober,  thoughtful  men  of 
other  —  yes,  of  all — sections  of  the  country,  this  wide-spread  belief 


i8 

in  the  idleness  and  extravagance  of  so  many  of  her  students  as  to 
give  the  general  idea  that  all  are  such  must  be  changed." 

"  My  friends  told  me  that  in  intellectual  matters  there  was  a  habit 
of  cramming  the  pupils  by  an  ocean  of  books  to  be  read,  without 
thoroughness ;  that  the  lectures  were  of  such  a  character  that  all  the 
pupil  had  to  do  was  to  swallow  them,  like  sugar-coated  pills ;  in  other 
words,  that  the  difficulties  were  solved  for  the  pupils,  by  the  teachers, 
to  an  excessive  and  enervating  degree.  (7)  I  find  some  lectures  full 
of  mental  gymnastics,  which  emphatically  do  not  do  the  thinking  for 
the  pupil  without  calling  in  his  co-operation  and  exciting  him  to  think 
for  himself.  The  system  of  theses  also  compels  original  work. 
There  may  be  a  tendency  to  magnify  instruction  or  accumulation  of 
facts  rather  than  education  or  power  to  estimate  facts,  but  I  fancy 
that  Harvard  has  less  of  this  fault  than  most  American  colleges." 

D.     EXTRAVAGANCE  AND  DISSIPATION. 

"Ten  years  ago  the  general  impression  of  my  friends  was  that 
Harvard  was  a  '  rich  man's  '  college,  a  place  where  much  extravagance 
and  dissipation  were  common.  N.B. —  I  have  lived  in  three  different 
States  of  New  England,  and  know  the  above  statements  to  be  circu- 
lated by  persons  (mostly  collegiates)  unfriendly  to  Harvard.  (7)  My 
brief  and  irregular  attendance  does  not  warrant  an  extended  infor- 
mation. My  belief  and  impressions  are  that  such  apprehensions  are 
foolish  and  absurd,  founded  too  often  upon  maliciousness." 

"  Had  a  vague  idea  that  there  was  considerable  idleness  and  dis- 
sipation among  the  students.  (7)  My  opportunities  for  observation 
are  limited,  but  should  say  that  the  state  of  affairs  here  is  better  than 
outside  it  is  generally  thought  to  be." 

"  I  anticipated  none.  My  friends  feared  the  tendency  to  extrava- 
gance, idleness,  dissipation,  too  much  athletics,  said  by  some  to  exist 
here.  (7)  Not  a  single  one  of  them." 

"  I  did  not  consciously  consider  this  question.  I  had  known  that 
Harvard  was  an  expensive  college,  and  that  many  fellows  spent  more 
money  than  they  should  ;  but,  as  I  had  a  definite  object  in  view,  this 
consideration  had  no  effect  on  my  decision.  (7)  What  I  have  seen 
of  Harvard  leads  me  to  think  that  a  few  men  spend  much  money  in 
gratifying  vicious  tastes,  and  that  there  is  a  good  deal  of  dissolute 
living  in  college.  However,  I  am  not  inclined  to  ascribe  this  to  the 
system  in  vogue  ;  nor  do  I  think  that  the  number  of  fast  men  is  large." 


19 

E.  EXPENSE. 

(See  answers  to  Question  3,  L,  p.  12.) 

"Among  the  disadvantages  believed  to  appertain  to  Harvard  in 
comparison  with  small  colleges  is  the  matter  of  expenses  at  Har- 
vard. Now,  in  my  own  experience,  I  have  spent  less  every  year  at 
Harvard  than  I  did  at  a  much  smaller  college." 

F.  SNOBBERY. 

"  The  only  disagreeable  expectation  I  had  was  with  respect  to 
snobbery.  (7)  If  there  are  snobs  here,  they  have  not  obtruded  them- 
selves upon  me." 

"  I  anticipated  a  snobbishness  on  the  part  of  many  students,  due  to 
great  wealth  and  unsettled  purpose.  (7)  Not  at  all.  Have  found 
the  students  here  courteous  and  sensible." 

G.     INEXPERIENCED  TUTORS. 

"  A  disadvantage  pointed  out  to  me  was  instruction,  particularly  in 
the  first  two  years,  under  inexperienced  tutors.  This,  I  think,  is  de- 
cidedly untrue." 

QUESTION   8. 

What  do  you  think  of  the  moral  tone  of  Harvard  ?  How 
does  it  compare  with  other  institutions  with  which  you  are 
familiar? 

A.     CAUSE  OF  ADVERSE  OUTSIDE  CRITICISM. 

"  I  think  the  so-called  immorality  of  Harvard  is  all  newspaper  sen- 
sationalism." 

"  The  tendency  to  personal  self-depreciation  and  the  habit  of  sar- 
castic criticism  of  the  methods  of  certain  representatives  of  the  lazy 
or  indifferent  element  among  us  are  in  marked  contrast  to  the  spirit  I 
have  found  elsewhere ;  and  to  this  habit  I  believe  much  of  adverse 
outside  criticism  can  be  traced." 

"  I  think  the  moral  tone  of  Harvard  is  higher  than  Harvard  men 
themselves  are  willing  to  have  it  believed  to  be.  As  a  late  number 
of  the  Advocate  has  said,  it  is  rather  the  fashionable  thing  to  pre- 
tend not  to  study.  Some  of  the  college  papers  recognize  but  two 
classes  of  students,  which  they  put  in  the  categories  of  Jack  Go-easy 
and  Grinder.  The  prominence  they  give  Jack  and  his  like  would 
lead  one  to  think  that  the  real  students  at  Harvard  were  in  a  very 
small  minority,  and  that  even  these  few  were  hopeless  and  helpless 
bookworms,  of  whom  nothing  could  be  expected  in  this  world. 


20 

"  More  than  this,  the  prominence  given  athletics,  whist,  and  chess 
tournaments,  etc.,  in  the  daily  or  weekly  reports  appearing  in  the 
newspapers,  leads  outsiders  to  believe  in  Harvard's  moral  laxity.  As 
a  Harvard  man  —  now  a  professor  in  a  prominent  Western  college 
—  remarked  to  me  a  short  time  since  :  'Not  a  little  of  the  false  im- 
pression about  Harvard  extravagance,  idleness,  fastness,  etc.,  is  due 
to  the  silly  stuff  which  is  put  into  the  newspapers ;  e.g.,  in  the  Adver- 
tiser of  February  22,  under  "  Harvard  Notes,"  four  lines  are  given  to 
a  mention  of  Dr.  Wheeler's  lecture,  seventeen  lines  to  an  account  of 
a  whist  tournament.'  This  gentleman  went  on  to  say :  '  Millions  of 
people  in  the  United  States  look  upon  card-playing  as  harmful ;  and 
very  many  colleges  and  almost  all  academies  forbid  it.  Harvard  men 
have  themselves  to  blame  for  much  of  the  misapprehension  which 
prevails  elsewhere  about  the  moral  atmosphere  of  Cambridge.' 

"This  evil  of  our  own  doing  is  helped  on  gloriously  by  the  bitter 
enemies  which  Harvard  unquestionably  has.  The  indications,  as 
presented  by  a  number  of  late  and  notable  instances,  are  that  these 
people  take  particular  pains  to  spread  any  damaging  report  about 
Harvard  as  fast  and  far  as  the  telegraph  and  press  can  carry  it. 

"The  fact  that  Harvard  is  the  largest,  oldest,  most  liberal,  and  most 
progressive  of  our  institutions  of  learning  insures  for  ic  the  most 
prominent  place  in  the  front  rank  of  American  colleges.  This  posi- 
tion is  naturally  the  one  most  exposed  to  the  friendly  and  unfriendly 
aims  of  our  rivals  and  adversaries ;  and  so,  as  Harvard  is  oftenest 
aimed  at,  she  is  oftenest  hit  by  unjust  and  damaging  criticisms.  It  is 
certainly  high  time  that  these  things  be  seen  in  their  true  light,  and 
that  their  harmful  influences  be  checked." 

B.     As  TO  THE  EXISTENCE  OF  IMMORALITY  AND  A  "  FAST  SET." 

"The  recent  articles  against  the  moral  tone  of  Harvard  seem  to  me 
to  be  strongly  flavored  with  the  ridiculous.  There  is  no  institution, 
I  believe,  where  some  vice  does  not  exist.  And  it  is  natural  that,  as 
the  number  who  attend  the  colleges  grows  larger,  a  larger  proportion 
of  '  demoralized '  young  men  will  be  among  them.  But  I  do  not 
believe  that  Harvard  is  more  a  'haunt  of  vice'  than  any  other 
college  in  the  country.  There  are  two  thousand  students  up  here, 
and  it  cannot  be  expected  that  there  should  not  be  some  'black 
sheep  '  among  them.  On  the  whole,  I  should  say  that  the  proportion 
is  a  very  small  one.  Most  of  the  men  whom  I  have  come  in  contact 
with,  it  seems  to  me,  have  exhibited  a  wonderful  amount  of  earnest- 
ness in  their  college  work.  The  prevalent  spirit,  I  think,  is  a  very 
healthy  one." 

"  Whether  certain  cardinal  vices  do  exist  or  not  there  can  be  little 


21 

value  in  discussing,  for  the  reason  that,  unless  students  are  regarded 
as  beings  differing  in  the  parts  which  characterize  other  men  and 
other  society,  they  must  be  in  some  measure  granted  to  exist.  I  am, 
though,  convinced  that  the  vulgar  notice  and  concern  which  have 
been  devoted  to  this  matter  are  wholly  superfluous." 

"  When  I  speak  of  the  moral  tone  of  the  college,  I  mean  the  col- 
lege as  a  whole ;  for  one  must  admit  that  in  so  large  a  body  of  men 
as  we  have  here  there  must  naturally  be  some  wild  and  impetuous 
natures  overleaping  the  bounds  of  prudence  and  discretion,  but  for 
whose  actions  the  blame  should  not  be  attached  in  any  manner  to 
the  college,  and  in  regard  to  whom  —  and,  in  fact,  it  applies  to  the 
entire  body  of  men — I  find  that  the  world  is  far  more  liable  to  hear 
of  their  misdoings  than  of  the  penalties  which  follow  close  on  the 
committal  of  offences,  and  hence  form  opinions  very  erroneous  con- 
cerning discipline,  etc.,  as  enforced  here." 

"  I  think  the  moral  tone  is  high.  To  be  sure  there  is  a  class  of 
men  whose  sole  object  in  life  out  here  seems  to  be  to  appear  '  tough.' 
The  slang  is  inelegant,  but  expressive.  The  moral  tone  must  not  be 
judged  by  the  actions  of  these  children,  who  should  have  been  kept 
at  school  until  they  learned  to  behave  like  '  men,'  as  they  term  them- 
selves." 

"  I  do  not  know  that  the  moral  tone  of  Harvard  is  an  atom  worse 
than  that  of  other  institutions  of  which  I  have  known  students  and 
had  an  opportunity  to  observe  their  life  and  conduct.  Of  course  any 
place  where  young  men  are  collected  in  large  numbers  is  bound  to 
contain  some  vice,  and  the  vice  is  bound  to  be  more  evident  than  the 
virtue." 

C.     ESTIMATE  OF  ITS  INFLUENCE. 

"  It  is  generally  admitted  that  there  is'  a  *  fast  set '  here,  but  they 
have  been  so  unobtrusive  that  I  hardly  knew  of  their  existence  until 
a  short  time  ago." 

"  The  fast  set,  if  there  is  one,  certainly  has  the  virtue  of  being  so 
exclusive  as  to  offer  few  temptations  to  the  unwary." 

"That  the  moral  tone  of  Harvard  is  rather  higher  than  at  some 
other  institutions  which  could  be  named  appears  from  this :  that  here 
the  men  who  are  fast  are  not  anxious  to  parade  it  except  among 
those  who  are  in  the  same  boat  with  them,  and  will  guard  their 
secret.  They  wish  to  appear  to  be  moral,  and  to  be  gentlemen. 
Why  should  this  be  so,  unless  morality  is  in  favor  with  the  majority 
at  Harvard?  Indeed,  there  seems  to  be  a  strong  moral  sentiment 
here." 

"  The  students  of  Harvard  form  a  small  world  in  themselves,  and 
among  them  may  be  found  both  high  and  low  standards  of  morality ; 


22 

but  the  immense  number  of  students  is  itself  a  guarantee  that  the 
great  majority  of  students  will  not  come  into  immediate  contact  with 
that  small  minority  known  as  the  fast  set.  In  smaller  colleges,  the 
fast  set  comes  in  contact  with  almost  every  student." 

D.     COMPARISON  WITH  OTHER  PLACES. 

"  I  could  write  a  book  on  this  question.  The  dangerous  influences 
at  Harvard  are  many,  but  no  more  than  elsewhere.  According  to 
my  estimate,  a  city  of  forty  or  fifty  thousand  inhabitants  would  con- 
tain about  the  same  number  of  young  men  between  the  ages  of  six- 
teen and  twenty-four  as  there  are  at  Harvard ;  and  I  doubt  if  there 
is  a  city  of  this  size  in  the  United  States  where  less  crime  is  com- 
mitted by  the  young  of  the  same  age  as  our  students.  A  compara- 
tively small  number  of  Harvard  men  join  the  criminal  class.  There 
are  dangerous  influences  everywhere,  and  no  one  is  compelled  to 
hunt  for  them  any  more  than  he  is  compelled  to  hunt  for  mosquitoes 
in  a  marsh." 

"  I  have  had  some  experience  in  the  business  world,  and  do  not 
hesitate  to  say  that  the  moral  tone  here  is  higher  than  among  men  of 
the  same  age  in  business  in  cities.  But,  of  course,  as  the  average 
moral  tone  of  the  people  in  large  cities  is  lower  than  that  in  towns, 
so  the  average  tone  is  lower  here  than  in  the  small  local  colleges ; 
but,  among  those  who  have  sound  principles,  I  believe  the  moral 
standards  to  be  found  here  are  as  high  as  anywhere  in  the  land." 

"The  moral  tone  of  Harvard  is  certainly  as  high  as  that  of  any 
educational  institution  that  I  have  been  connected  with." 

"  I  have  seen  nothing  to  warrant  me  in  supposing  that  the  moral 
tone  of  Harvard  differs  essentially  from  that  of  my  own  college,  which 
we  consider  very  high." 

"  I  am  convinced  that  the  intellectual  spirit  and  the  moral  influences 
at  Harvard  are  superior  to  those  of  any  educational  institution  of  my 
acquaintance." 

"  The  moral  tone  among  the  students  is,  considering  the  numbers 
and  classes  of  students,  I  believe,  better,  by  far,  than  one  would 

expect.  It  does  not  compare  favorably  with  that  at  .  This 

I  attribute,  not  to  any  merit  in  the  system  of  government  of  the  latter 
institution,  but  to  co-education  in  part,  and  to  the  class  of  men  who 
attend,  they  being  almost  exclusively  from  the  country,  and  very 
largely  poor  (in  pocket-book)  men." 

"  I  think  Harvard's  methods  more  conducive  to  deep  moral  con- 
scientiousness than  I  had  any  expectation  of  finding.  It  compares 
favorably  with  my  former  college." 

"This  is  a  very  difficult  question.     My  personal  opinion  is  this: 


23 

that  the  moral  tone  of  Harvard  is  just  as  high  as  that  of  any  other 
institution  of  its  kind.  I  am  inclined  to  say  better  than  most.  But 
of  this  I  have  no  proof.  It  is  merely  an  inference  drawn  from  a 
pretty  large  collection  of  facts.  I  have  had  a  good  deal  of  college 
life  myself,  and  have  known  a  number  of  college  men  who,  if  not 
regular  "rakes"  themselves,  were  pretty  well  posted  in  regard  to 
the  habits  of  such  men.  Numbers  considered,  any  comparison~that 
I  can  make  seems  to  me  to  be  entirely  in  favor  of  Harvard." 

"  The  professors  I  have  come  in  contact  with  seem  as  decided  on 
undisputed  points  of  good  morals  as  those  at  my  former  college  ;  and 
offences  against  good  morals,  when  discovered,  are  fearlessly  dealt 
with." 

"  I  think  the  moral  tone  of  Harvard  rather  worldly  but,  on  the 
whole,  good.  It  compares  favorably  with  other  institutions." 

"  Good  in  fact.  But  many  men  seem  ashamed  that  this  should  be 
the  case.  As  good,  in  the  main,  as  that  of  any  educational  institu- 
tion with  men  of  the  same  ages  that  I  have  ever  known.  But  then 
I  know  only  decent  men." 

"  Fair  to  good.  Not  any  better  than  at  the  other  places,  perhaps 
not  much  worse.  Absence  of  dormitories  and  presence  of  'co-eds' 
tended  to  raise  the  moral  tone  in  each  of  the  other  places." 

"  No  better  than  at  my  former  university.  Is  a  tendency  for  it  to 
be  worse.  More  men  come  here  for  a  'good  time.'  " 

"Like  every  large  community,  it  has  all  elements  from  best  to 
worst.  The  average  moral  tone  is  too  low,  too  lax.  Compares  very 
unfavorably." 

"  So  far  as  I  can  judge,  decidedly  low ;  and,  on  the  whole,  consid- 
erably lower  than  at  .  I  have,  however,  seen  cribbing  in  ex- 
aminations at  ,  but  have  not  seen  it  done  at  Harvard." 

"I  did  not  come  to  Harvard  to  get  religion,  though  I  am  sorry 
there  is  not  a  firmer  grounding  here  than  the  one  on  which  the  college 
rests.  Harvard  proposes  to  be  a  university :  it  is  a  little  world  in 
itself.  A  man  can  go  to  church  or  not,  be  religious  or  not.  I  do  not 
think  it  affects  one  who  has  his  principles  grounded,  who  knows  what 
he  believes,  etc.  I  should  hardly  recommend,  however,  any  young 
boy,  with  immature  ideas,  to  start  in  at  Harvard  for  four  years. 
Youth  finds  so  many  allurements.  But  then,  there  are  other  institu- 
tions just  as  bad.  I  hardly  think  there  is  a  whit  of  difference  between 
Harvard  and  other  places  like  most  of  the  larger  colleges.  My  own 
college  is  markedly  the  other  way.  Men  who  have  graduated  else- 
where come  to  Harvard  for  work,  not  to  attend  theatres.  Their 
habits  are  fixed.  With  them,  this  undercurrent  at  Harvard  will  be 
almost  unknown.  For  myself,  I  don't  know  that  there  is  such  a 


24 

thing  as  a  fast  set;  but  the  sixteen-year-old  boy  is  very  apt  to 
find  it." 

"  I  believe  it  is  entirely  possible  to  be  as  moral  as  one  wishes  here. 
The  proportion  of  Amoral  men  is  perhaps  not  greater  than  at  my 
former  college ;  but  there  seems  to  be  a  much  greater  proportion  of 
unmoral  men  —  that  is,  men  indifferent  in  such  things  —  than  there. 

"  The  studious  and  earnest  men  bear  about  the  same  proportion,  I 
should  say,  to  the  idle  and  careless.  The  actual  number  of  the 
latter,  however,  is  of  course  much  larger;  and  their  influence  in 
giving  tone  to  the  college  is,  even  comparatively,  very  much  greater." 

"  It  is  low,  but  improving.     Much  lower  than  elsewhere." 

"  Harvard's  moral  tone  is  not  bad  for  so  large  a  university  ;  but  it 
can  be  elevated,  and  is  improving.  Cant  is  especially  despised  here. 
The  moral  tone  is  below  that  of  Wellesley." 

"The  moral  tone  of  Harvard  is  good.  I  have  known  only  one 
small  college  where  there  was  a  better,  and  half  a  dozen  where  there 
was  a  worse.  The  temptations  to  immorality  are  no  greater  than  in 
any  other  inhabited  district." 

"  I  believe  that  the  moral  tone  of  Harvard  is  as  high  as  that  of 
any  institution  in  the  country." 

"  I  have  seen  nothing  *  immoral '  in  tone  or  tendency  or  custom. 
Among  one  thousand  students  it  would  be  indeed  a  miracle  if  there 
were  not  some  of  them  not  what  they  should  be.  I  have  not  met  any 
myself  of  this  character.  I  think  the  spirit  of  manliness  and  honor 
among  the  students  is  ahead  of  that  of  the  BEST  society  outside  of 
the  college  walls.  It  compares  rather  unfavorably  with .  How- 
ever, the  latter  is  a  provincial  university,  quite  non-sectarian,  and  its 
activity  of  moral  life  says  not  one  word  against  Harvard,  but  is  a 
proof  that  sectarian  universities  have  no  monopoly  of  morality.  In 
other  words,  it  confirms  Harvard's  stand-point ;  namely,  allow  moral- 
ity sunshine  and  air,  and  it  will  take  care  of  itself.  If  you  attempt  to 
force  it,  you  either  root  it  out  or  at  best  have  a  sickly  hot-house 
plant." 

"  I  can  make  no  fair  answer  to  this  question.  I  have  not  lived  in 
a  dormitory  since  I  have  been  here,  and  the  men  I  have  met  are 
probably  above  the  average  in  respect  to  their  conduct.  Leaving  out 
of  account  the  comparatively  few  men  who  make  a  business  of 
*  bumming,'  I  should  say  that  the  college  maintained  a  very  good 
tone  in  this  matter." 

"  A  noticeable  distinction  between  the  Harvard  students  and  those 
of  other  colleges  is  the  uniform  politeness  and  gentlemanliness  of 
the  former.  Harvard  students,  too,  are  uniformly  respectful  to  the 
professors.  A  Harvard  lecture-room  presents  an  entirely  different 


25 

scene  from  some  which  I  have  witnessed  elsewhere,  and  from  some 
of  which  1  have  heard  from  graduates  of  other  colleges.  Such  a 
thing  as  monkeyism  with  a  Harvard  professor  is  quite  a  thing  of  the 
past,  and  would  be  impossible,  not  on  account  of  discipline  by  the 
professor,  but  because  the  men  who  sit  before  him  are  men,  are 
gentlemen,  and  themselves  make  such  a  thing  impossible. 

"  Also,  hazing  and  those  puerilities  which  distinguish  their  perpe- 
trators as  heroes  at  some  smaller  colleges,  if  done  here  at  all,  are 
done  under  the  opprobrium  of  the  whole  body  of  students,  excepting 
of  course  the  perpetrators  themselves  \  but  these  latter  can  find  no 
glory  in  it,  and  are  glad  to  keep  quiet  about  it.  Thus  there  is  no 
encouragement  for  these  puerilities.  I  know  that  there  is  encourage- 
ment for  them  in  other  colleges,  owing  to  the  tone  of  the  students  in 
those  colleges" 

"  I  believe  it  to  be  good,  to  be  based  upon  high  aims  and  upon 
respect  for  the  opinions  of  others.  Candor  and  truthfulness  are,  it 
seems  to  me,  especially  recognized  at  Harvard  ;  while  self-respect  and 
self-reliance  are  the  characteristics  of  the  majority  of  students." 

"  From  what  I  can  learn  and  observe,  it  is  equal  to  any  and 
superior  to  many.  I  have  visited  most  of  our  New  England  colleges, 
and  especially  with  marked  credit  to  Harvard  can  the  demeanor  of 
the  students  in  '  chapel '  be  compared  with  the  deportment  of  the 
members  of  other  colleges  in  similar  services.  (This,  however,  may 
be  due  to  the  compulsory  attendance  in  other  places.)" 

"The  standard  of  honor  here  is  high.  Have  taken  great  pride  in 
telling  my  friends  outside  that  dishonesty  in  examination  rooms  is 
almost  unknown." 

"  My  acquaintances,  being  mainly  *  grinds  '  like  myself,  have  no 
time  for  deviltry.  Taking  simply  the  students  of  my  own  acquaint- 
ance, I  have  never  known  a  more  moral  set  of  men." 

E.     RELIGIOUS  SPIRIT. 

"  I  think  religion  is  more  respected  and  its  influence  more  vital  at 
Harvard  than  at  other  schools  with  which  I  am  familiar,  because  its 
methods  of  presentation  are  not  compulsory  and  sectarian." 

"  I  find  that  the  body  of  students  as  a  whole  are  imbued  with  a 
sincere  moral  and  religious  earnestness,  for  which  I  do  not  think  they 
receive  as  much  credit  as  they  deserve.  That  such  a  spirit  exists  is 
apparent  from  the  religious  and  charitable  organizations  of  the 
college,  and  especially  in  the  demand  for  books  from  the  library  on 
solid  philosophical  and  religious  subjects.  I  must  confess  that, 
contrary  to  my  former  views,  it  compares  very  favorably  with  the 
institution  with  which  I  was  formerly  connected." 


26 

"  I  consider  the  religious  sentiment,  on  the  whole,  deep  and 
practical,  but  not  emotional." 

"  Nothing  could  be  more  erroneous  than  to  suppose  Harvard  a 
stronghold  of  infidelity.  The  general  tenor  of  the  instruction  here 
tends  to  cultivate  theistic  and  religious  belief.  Every  effort  for  the 
amelioration  of  the  race  and  for  the  promotion  of  personal  morality 
and  godliness  is  recognized  and  supported  by  Harvard." 

"There  is  not  such  an  outward  demonstration  of  religion  as 
appears  in  some  other  colleges.  There  is  not  the  talk  and  religious 
cant  that  one  meets  elsewhere.  There  is,  however,  a  deep  and  genu- 
ine feeling,  a  reverence  and  respect,  for  religion,  which  feels  itself  too 
sacred  to  be  hawked  about  as  the  fishmonger  cries  his  way  through 
the  streets,  or  to  be  talked  about  in  any  ordinary  way.  And  yet, 
quietly  and  sincerely,  it  is  talked  about." 

"  Harvard  does  not  boast  a  noisy  morality,  but  it  is  deep-seated. 
There  is  a  general  profound  respect  for  religion  among  the  students  ; 
and,  though  entirely  voluntary,  the  religious  exercises  are  largely 
attended.  I  think  this  is  a  very  significant  fact." 


QUESTION    9. 

What  is  your  opinion  of  the  intellectual  earnestness  of  the 

students?     How  do  you  think  it  is  affected  by  the 

elective  system  ? 

A.     EARNESTNESS. 

"  I  never  before  saw  a  class  of  as  hard-working  and  earnest  men 
as  I  find  here.  I  think  the  university  should  be  governed  in  the  way 
that  will  best  suit  that  class  of  men." 

"  I  think  this  earnestness  is  a  distinguishing  characteristic  of  Har- 
vard. Men  go  to  work  not  as  a  mere  duty,  but  with  an  interest 
greater  than  I  have  observed  at  any  other  college.  I  think  this  ear- 
nestness and  interest  is,  in  a  large  measure,  due  to  the  elective  sys- 
tem, since  by  this  system  the  men  can  freely  pursue  the  courses  of 
study  which  best  suit  their  individual  tastes  and  powers." 

"  I  think  that  scholarly  attainment  is  sought  here  more  earnestly 
than  in  any  other  place  I  know." 

"  The  intellectual  earnestness,  so  far  as  I  can  judge,  is  much  in 
advance  of  what  I  expected  it  would  be,  taking  into  consideration  the 
fact  that  the  majority  of  the  students  are  young  men  of  means,  who 
have  not  had  the  tonic  of  fighting  life's  battle  for  themselves." 

"  The  great  mass  of  the  students  I  believe  to  be  thoroughly  earnest, 


27 

particularly  Juniors  and  Seniors.     The  elective  system  makes  them 
more  manly  and  thoughtful." 

"The  men  with  whom  I  come  in  contact  are  all  earnestness.  I 
do  not  believe  that  the  elective  system  affects  this  matter  much ;  if  at" 
all,  favorably." 

"  This  is  a  point  upon  which  there  can  be  little  doubt.  There  are 
hundreds  of  men  at  Harvard  who  can  fairly  be  called  serious  stu- 
dents. What  is  more,  they  are  organized  in  such  a  way  that  their 
influence  is  felt  throughout  the  whole  university ;  e.g^  Historical 
Society,  Deutscher  Verein,  Finance  Club,  etc." 

"  I  have  never  seen  the  intellectual  earnestness  of  a  certain  part  of 
the  students  here  exceeded." 

"  The  proportion  of  men  whose  business  is  study  is  larger  than  in 
any  other  university  with  which  I  am  familiar." 

"  Of  course  there  are  among  the  special  students  and  members  of 
the  first  two  undergraduate  classes  a  large  number  who  have  but 
little  intellect,  much  less  intellectual  earnestness.  Another  large 
number  have  intellect  enough,  but  squander  it.  But  the  majority 
(and  all  this  is  only  my  opinion)  are  awake  to  the  peculiar  advantages 
of  being  here,  and  are  in  earnest.  Then  there  is  a  class  —  contain- 
ing not  a  few  —  who  need  to  be  restrained  from  overwork.  I  think 
the  elective  system  tends  to  make  the  extremes  of  carelessness  and 
earnestness  further  removed." 

"  Most  of  the  students  whom  I  have  met  are  earnest  in  their  work. 
As  a  class,  I  feel  certain  that  they  are  earnest  and  hard-working." 

"  I  think  the  proportion  of  men  here  who  work  well  is  quite  as 
large  as  in  any  New  England  college,  and,  of  those  who  work  too 
hard,  larger." 

"  If  a  man  applies  himself  entirely  to  study,  he  is  dubbed  a  'grind  ' ; 
and  his  lot  is  hard.  It  is  the  fashion  to  seem  not  to  study,  and  Har- 
vard's weakest  point  is  here.  At  the  same  time,  a  man  may  do  his 
work  faithfully  and  well,  and  yet  be  '  a  good  fellow '  and  have  his 
good  time  with  the  rest.  The  intellectual  earnestness,  on  the  whole, 
consists  for  half1  the  men  in  college  in  getting  through  the  examina- 
tions j  but  the  other  half  are  hard  workers,  and  apply  themselves 
almost  entirely  to  their  books." 

"  I  fear  that  there  is  not  so  general  a  desire  for  knowledge  as  in 
most  of  our  smaller  colleges,  where  most  of  the  students  feel  that 
their  education  is  their  fortune." 

"  I  have  never  seen  more  earnest  students.  The  elective  system 
seems  to  me  greatly  promotive  of  earnestness." 

"  My  opinion  of  the  intellectual  earnestness  is  a  very  high  one.  I 
was  struck  by  the  difference  when  I  came  over  from  Germany.  The 
German  system,  of  nearly  unlimited  restriction  in  the  gymnasium  and 


28 

no  restriction  whatsoever  in  the  universities,  is,  I  think,  a  bad  one ; 
for  it  has  the  effect  that  young  men,  when  they  leave  the  school- 
bench,  and  suddenly  feel  themselves  free  from  all  sort  of  compulsion, 
do  no  work  at  all,  at  least  for  a  good  while." 

"  The  only  means  that  I  have  of  getting  at  the  intellectual  earnest- 
ness of  Harvard  are  those  presented  by  average  class  attendance  and 
interest  manifested  in  the  lectures.  Being  in  advanced  classes,  where 
the  men  are  evidently  old  enough  to  appreciate  their  opportunities, 
I  have  seen  nothing  to  indicate  a  lack  of  intellectual  earnestness. 
Indeed,  I  think  this  quality  exists  in  Harvard  in  a  much  greater 
degree  than  is  generally  believed." 

"  I  do  not  think  I  have  ever  met  a  body  of  students  who,  as  a 
whole,  are  more  earnest  in  their  work.  This  most  probably  is  due 
to  the  elective  system ;  for  under  it  the  student  is  enabled  to  thor- 
oughly pursue  a  particular  kind  of  work,  for  which  he  deems  himself 
best  fitted,  besides  acquiring  a  good  general  training." 

"  My  experience  has  made  me  acquainted  with  graduates  chiefly ; 
but,  judging  from  what  I  have  seen  in  class-rooms,  would  say  that 
the  earnestness  is  much  above  the  general  public  opinion  of  it. 

"With  graduates,  of  course,  the  elective  system  is  entirely  proper; 
but  for  college  course  I  believe  in  a  group  system,  or  an  elective  sys- 
tem subject  to  approval  of  those  more  experienced  than  undergrad- 
uates. The  opinion  is  abroad  through  the  country  that  it  is  com- 
paratively easy  to  graduate  here :  this  opinion  measures  all  the  work 
done  here,  and  the  graduate  department  suffers  in  consequence." 

"The  majority  of  students  come  here  with  a  desire  to  learn,  having 
chosen  Harvard  as  the  best  college  in  the  country  for  that  purpose ; 
while  a  small  minority  come  with  the  intention  of  getting  a  diploma 
to  say  that  they  are  graduates  of  Harvard.  The  elective  system 
gives  the  latter  class  of  students  a  better  chance  to  get  the  desired 
diploma." 

"  In  regard  to  the  intellectual  earnestness  of  the  students,  I  have 
been  very  favorably  impressed.  I  find  that  the  men  take  great  inter- 
est in  their  work,  as  is  exhibited  by  the  large  number  of  societies,  such 
as  the  Historical  Society,  the  Finance  Club,  the  Boylston  Chemical 
Club,  the  Classical  Club,  and  other  excellent  and  well-directed 
organizations,  all  going,  as  1  have  said,  to  show  the  intensity  of  ear- 
nestness that  pervades  the  college  students.  Likewise,  I  find  that 
the  deep  interest,  the  strict  attention,  and  the  large  attendance  at  the 
lectures  all  go  to  show  how  very  successful  the  elective  system  is 
in  its  workings ;  and  this  is  also  shown  in  the  remarkable  extent  to 
which  the  college  library  is  used,  which  can  be  found  thronged  with 
men  every  day,  working  in  the  different  reference  alcoves.  In  short, 
I  think  that  the  strong  intellectual  earnestness  of  the  students  may 


be  plainly  traced  to  the  elective  system  ;  and  this  I  say  after  having 
been  for  seven  years  at  a  college  where  the  elective  system  is  totally 
unknown.  I  willingly  give  my  voice  to  this  system,  whose  beneficial 
results  have  become  known  to  me  through  experience." 

B.     THE  ELECTIVE  SYSTEM. 

"  It  would  be  pretty  hard  to  put  two  thousand  men  together  with- 
out finding  a  good  many  shirks.  For  the  working  man,  the  elective 
system  is  the  thing.  For  the  shirk,  it  makes  no  difference.  By  all 
means  make  your  rules  to  benefit  the  earnest  men :  do  not  restrict 
them  for  the  sake  of  a  few  shiftless  fellows." 

"  I  think  a  good  student  is  greatly  aided  by  liberty  of  choice  in  his 
courses.  On  the  other  hand,  the  most  rigid  regulations  and  restric- 
tions cannot  convey  to  a  listless  student  the  spirit  of  true  scholarship. 
I  wish  to  say  without  reservation  that  I  think  Harvard  men  are 
benefited  and  stimulated  by  the  elective  system." 

"  Lazy  men  can  select  snaps,  but  they  would  not  be  earnest  any- 
way. So  no  harm  is  worked  by  the  elective  system  alone." 

"  I  cannot  say  what  is  the  effect  of  the  elective  system.  I  have 
heard  it  said  that  it  gave  an  opportunity  to  hunt  up  *  snap  courses '  to 
men  so  inclined.  There  are  always  a  number  of  men  who  wish  to 
crawl  through  with  the  minimum  of  effort.  I  should  fancy  the 
elective  system  would  be  able  to  take  care  of  these  about  as  well  as 
any  other  system.  It  all  depends  on  the  character  of  the  examina- 
tions and  the  amount  of  '  plucking '  done  there." 

"  As  to  the  intellectual  earnestness  of  the  Harvard  students,  I  can 
state  that  I  have  never  before  been  in  classes  where  every  man  was 
so  good  a  student.  I  may  have  happened  to  meet  only  bright  men, 
but  I  have  chiefly  met  such  since  I  have  been  in  Harvard.  These 
men  were  not  only  bright,  but  hard  workers.  There  are  doubtless 
many  of  the  other  kind,  but  I  should  expect  to  find  such  at  a  large 
university.  I  am  sure  they  do  not  do  me  any  harm.  I  thoroughly 
believe  in  the  elective  system.  As  far  as  we  have  statistics,  it  is 
shown  that  men  have  risen  from  a  mediocre  position  in  scholarship  to 
a  very  good  position  by  being  allowed  to  follow  studies  congenial  to 
them.  The  elective  system  stimulates  intellectual  activity,  instead  of 
blunting  it,  by  making  it  possible  for  a  man  to  become  something.  It 
offers  hope  for  him.  It  affords  him  an  opening  and  a  possibility.  It 
gives  him  an  opportunity  to  breathe.  It  invites  him  to  become  a  man 
and  begin  to  exercise  moral  responsibility,  yet  not  when  he  is  cast 
out  into  the  world  all  alone  for  the  first  time,  but  while  he  is  still  sur- 
rounded with  friendly  counsellors,  experts  in  their  respective  depart- 
ments, who,  if  he  make  a  mistake,  will  attend  him  and  quickly  restore 


30 

him.  He  can  afford  to  make  mistakes  when  he  is  learning,  but,  if  he 
had  gone  out  into  the  world  and  made  those  mistakes,  it  might  have 
been  fatal." 

"  In  a  college  to  which  many  men  are  sent  merely  because  it  is  the 
proper  place  for  a  society  young  man  to  go,  there  are  inevitably  many 
men  who  do  not  do  their  work.  But  the  great  number  of  those  who 
do  their  work  with  any  sort  of  purpose  whatever  do  it  earnestly  and 
carefully." 

"  The  effect  of  the  elective  system  is,  it  seems  to  me,  in  its  broadest 
application,  to  cause  lazy  men  to  do  fairly  good  work  in  easy  courses; 
while  under  a  fixed  curriculum  the  same  men  would  get  their  diploma 
by  doing  much  poorer  work  in  harder  courses.  It  seems  to  me  that 
the  first  arrangement  is  much  the  better." 

"  Now  I  maintain  that  even  lazy  men  often  master  themselves  in 
trying  to  get  to  study  some  pet  '  fad,'  while  under  an  arbitrary  course 
of  studies  they  would  *  fly  the  track '  at  the  outset,  and  perchance 
miss  the  opportunity  to  develop  into  something  along  the  lines  of 
least  resistance,  as  indicated  by  the  bent  of  their  minds.  Therefore, 
I  believe  enthusiastically  in  the  elevating  influence  of  the  elective 
system  upon  the  intellectual  tone  of  the  students  here." 

"  There  is  more  of  it  here  than  I  have  ever  seen  before.  It  sur- 
prised me  at  first,  it  seemed  so  general.  I  have  come  across  excep- 
tions since.  In  the  main,  the  elective  system,  I  think,  makes  men 
more  earnest  in  their  work.  There  are  men  who  take  advantage  of 
the  system  to  take  easily  passed  courses;  but  such  are  in  the  small 
minority." 

"  Of  course,  some  students  select  their  courses  only  with  reference 
to  the  ease  of  getting  through  them ;  but  I  believe  that  the  majority 
choose  carefully  and  wisely,  and  that  students  will  do  more  work  on 
a  specialty  in  which  they  are  interested  than  on  some  distasteful 
elementary  study." 

"  I  believe  the  elective  system,  by  enabling  a  man  to  train,  most 
carefully  the  faculties  which  are  naturally  deficient,  and  to  inform 
himself  generally  on  those  subjects  which  he  feels  he  will  have  least 
time  to  inform  himself  upon  in  after  life,  gives  him  an  opportunity  to 
get  a  broad,  all-around  culture  ;  and  then,  in  his  last  year  or  two  years 
of  college,  he  can  devote  himself  to  such  studies  as  will  give  him  the 
best  training  preparatory  to  professional  study  or  active  life.  Surely, 
this  tends  to  put  earnestness  into  a  man's  work." 

"I  have  it  on  reliable  authority  that  undergraduates  have  done 
more  work  and  better  work  under  the  free  system  than  was  ever 
gotten  out  of  them  by  old  methods." 

"  I  'think  the  elective  system  has  had  an  excellent  effect  on  me ; 
and  I  have  noticed  especially  in  fellow  undergraduates  a  tendency  to 


independent  opinion  and  research  which  was  unknown  at  my  former 
college." 

"  Very  high,  indeed.  For  the  more  mature  minds  far  superior  to 
the  old  system,  for  the  younger  class  of  students  usually  narrowing  in 
its  tendencies." 

"Intellectual  earnestness  is  much  greater  and  more  prevalent  than 
I  had  anticipated.  I  think  it  is  greatly  increased  by  the  elective  sys- 
tem in  intensity,  if  not  in  prevalence.  The  system  seems  to  make  the 
students  specialists  in  their  selected  subjects,  and  thus  permits  the 
courses  to  become  more  advanced  ;  it  allows  of  idleness  in  those  who 
are  naturally  lacking  in  intellectual  earnestness,  and  could  thus  de- 
crease that  quality  only  indirectly." 

"For  my  own  part,  I  attend  recitations  more  regularly,  work 
harder,  and  enjoy  my  work  more  than  I  did  or  would  do  under  any 
other  system." 

"  I  have  come  across  a  number  of  men  whose  avowed  object  was 
to  'get  through' ;  but  the  tone  of  the  college  is  rather  that  of  a  ma- 
jority who,  in  addition,  are  actuated  by  an  earnest  desire  for  intellect- 
ual attainment.  The  college  naturally  suffers  in  this  respect  in  com- 
parison with  the  technical  and  professional  schools  I  have  attended, 
where  the  necessity  for  earning  one's  living,  in  the  immediate  future, 
is  the  main  stimulus  before  most  of  the  students.  I  am  ready,  how- 
ever, to  prove  that  the  man  who  gets  A  or  B  at  Harvard  works  as 
hard  as  the  student  who  secures  equal  rank  in  the  technical  school. 
I  also  believe  that  the  elective  system  (contrary  to  the  opinion  held 
before  entering  Harvard)  works,  in  the  great  majority  of  cases,  to  the 
advantage  of  advanced  students.  I  have  not  the  data  upon  which 
to  predicate  its  utility  in  the  lower  classes. 

"  So  far  as  my  observation  goes,  it  promotes  self-reliance,  increases 
the  interest  of  the  student  in  his  work,  and  teaches  him  to  differen- 
tiate wisely  between  essentials  and  non-essentials  in  the  methods  of 
getting  at  results,  and  thus  raises  the  standard  of  intellectual  ear- 
nestness." 

"The  average  is  lowered  by  the  number  of  easy-going  fellows. 
Among  the  good  students,  the  average  is  high.  The  elective  system 
enables  the  loafers  to  loaf,  but  is  a  benefit  to  the  workers,  thus 
increasing  the  intellectual  earnestness." 

"  I  think  that  the  great  mass  of  the  students  here  are  earnest,  in- 
tellectually speaking ;  but  I  know  of  a  great  many  who  are  not,  but 
I  do  not  think  that  the  elective  system  can  be  accountable  for  their 
lack  of  earnestness.  I  think  the  elective  system  is  a  great  stimulus 
to  intellectual  earnestness." 

"  *  Grinds '  usually  avail  themselves  of  every  privilege  and  advan- 
tage afforded  by  the  University,  and  my  acquaintances  are  no  excep- 


32 

tion.  I  find  that  nearly  every  one  has  some  purpose  or  calling  in 
view,  and  to  the  best  of  his  ability  selects  his  studies  in  the  line  of 
that  calling;  and  I  know  the  privilege  of  such  selection  is  of  great 
advantage  to  myself." 

"As  to  the  intellectual  earnestness  of  the  students  of  Harvard,  I 
think  it  is,  on  the  whole,  about  as  good  as  one  could  expect  in  this  age 
and  land.  The  elective  system  in  my  estimation  rather  tends  to 
increase  than  diminish  this ;  for,  although  it  allows  loafers  to  loaf 
legitimately,  it  certainly  does  allow  a  greater  room  for  self-improve- 
ment to  those  bent  on  that  end,  and  it  is  for  this  latter  class  that  the 
college  is  supposed  to  be  founded." 

"  Some  of  the  students  give  daily  evidence  that  they  are  here  for 
no  other  purpose  than  to  learn  :  others  again  are  here  for  any  other 
purpose  than  to  study.  I  think  the  proportion  of  good  students  at 
Harvard  is  fully  as  large  as  in  any  college  I  know  of.  The  elective 
system  allows  the  good  student  to  specialize,  and  in  his  chosen  de- 
partment to  carry  his  studies  to  an  advanced  stage ;  it  also  makes  it 
possible  for  the  shirk  to  avoid  difficult  studies." 

"The  intellectual  earnestness  of-  the  students  with  whom  I  am 
.acquainted  is  of  the  highest.  This,  I  think,  is  increased  on  the  part 
of  the  true  student  by  the  elective  system.  It  is  a  question  in  my 
mind  whether  or  not  the  elective  system  does  not  lead  to  too  early 
specialization.  I  think  the  weight  of  argument  is  that  it  does  so 
lead." 

"  As  far  as  I  can  judge,  there  seems  to  be  a  good  degree  of  ear- 
nestness in  study.  I  think  that  those  who  are  fully  decided  upon 
the  course  they  wish  to  pursue  are  favorably  affected  by  the  elective 
system  ;  it  seems  to  me  that  it  has  a  bad  effect  on  others." 

"  I  have  seen  great  intellectual  earnestness  among  some  of  the 
men;  the  very  reverse  among  others.  I  think  the  elective  system 
affords  splendid  facilities  for  study  to  men  who  wish  to  work,  and 
equally  good  facilities  to  men  who  wish  to  obtain  a  degree  without 
work." 

"The  amount  of  studying  actually  done  is,  I  believe,  far  greater 
than  in  any  other  college.  The  elective  system  enables  a  student  to 
avoid  those  officers  and  studies  which  are  distasteful  to  him ;  but, 
whatever  courses  he  pursues,  the  amount  of  work  required  is  in 
general  double  and  often  three  times  the  requirement  of  the  average 
New  England  college.  Thus,  in  the  languages  especially,  a  Harvard 
graduate  who  has  paid  particular  attention  to  those  branches  can  read 
fluently  classical,  French,  and  German  authors  that  the  average  grad- 
uate of  other  colleges  can  only  laboriously  dig  out  with  the  help  of  a 
lexicon." 


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